"Surveillance Capitalism Won. IPFS Shows How We Win Back the Web", - Michelle Lee, IPFS

Fri, Jan 2, 2026, 12:00 AM

In this Privacy Academy interview, Michelle (Mosh) Lee from IPFS Foundation breaks down what IPFS really is, why it matters, and how it’s reshaping the web. She explains how content addressing and peer-to-peer networking make the internet more resilient, how IPFS is used today (from scientific datasets to authenticating humanitarian video), and why surveillance capitalism makes privacy literacy essential for everyone. Michelle also reflects on building tech for governments, the political reality developers now face, and what it takes to design tools that give real agency back to users, not monopolies. Timecodes 00:00 – Intro: Who is Michelle (Mosh) Lee & what the IPFS Foundation does 00:21 – What IPFS is: censorship-resistant, resilient, content-addressed web 01:01 – How IPFS works: content fingerprinting, trees, verification, peer-to-peer retrieval 02:00 – Why it matters: authenticating data, preventing tampering, efficient distribution 02:48 – Real-world use cases: humanitarian video evidence, scientific datasets, open social networks 03:37 – What builders can do with IPFS: self-certifying systems, user-controlled apps 04:26 – Giving power back to users: decentralization vs. Web2 consolidation 05:00 – What everyday users can do: understanding surveillance capitalism & data trails 06:00 – Privacy literacy gaps: cookies, OAuth, data retention, corporate extraction 06:52 – Her work on civic tech: messaging tools for governments → broader participation 08:00 – Tech as a tool for good or harm: shifting responsibilities of modern builders 08:46 – Navigating today’s politics: resilient infrastructure and policy-aware tech 09:21 – The future: blending open-web values with privacy-first design 10:14 – Subcommunities & agency: tools for the small-scale, human-scale web 10:59 – Lessons for builders: early adopters vs mainstream; convenience must equal safety 12:07 – UX evolution: optimizing systems, not individual engagement metrics 13:00 – Final thoughts & closing ... This conversation is part of Privacy Academy Interviews – a peer-to-peer knowledge project exploring the most important ideas in Web3, privacy, and digital freedom. Learn more: https://academy.web3privacy.info/p/interviews A W3PN Media House production. Directed by Federico Marchi https://x.com/BabyBitProd Interview by Peter Farbey https://x.com/0xfarbey Let privacy be with you!